To Save a Priestess
by Tsuveras
Summary: When Leah, the Hestian Priestess is kidnapped by Zeus, Xena bands together with old friends and even enemies to save her. Can they save Leah before Zeus has his way with her? Can Gabrielle and Xena save their drifting relationship when Ares tries to get in the way? Will Autolycus EVER get a reward for helping Xena? How can they set everything right again?


**Rated T for violence**

**_To Save a Priestess_**

_"Joxer the mighty,_

_he roams through the countryside._

_He never needs a place to hide..."_ Gabrielle smirked as she turned her eyes to Xena.

"You think Joxers around here?" She already knew the answer to her question. Xena squinted at the bushes where Joxer's voice came from the other side.

"I'm glad we found him, we could really use some help this time," Xena said and now Gabrielle stared at her with disbelief. A laughing smile was on her face as she shook her head.

"He's singing really loudly Xena, I don't think he can hear us," Gabrielle stated, getting at the fact that she was sure Xena was lying. Xena shook her head as her eyes hardened.

"No, this time, we need him," Xena said as she began towards the bush.

_"He's really tidy,_

_everybody likes him..."_

"Joxer," Xena called out once she deemed herself close enough.

"Ahhhh—Ahhhhg. Ooomph!" Joxer yelled out in shock before he fell backwards, out of the bushes.

"Xena… What a pleasant surprise!" He said from where he laid on his back and now stared up at the warrior princess. His head turned.

"Gabby!" He greeted her with a warm smile. Gabrielle cleared her throat as she averted her eyes. Joxer looked confused for a moment before he looked down and found his pants still undone.

"Oh, oh!" He said as he quickly buttoned himself up.

"Well, you know what these bushes are for!" He stated and Gabrielle nodded slightly, feeling a little awkward.

"Come on, up ya go." Xena extended her hand to him and he took it. She pulled him up before he glanced around.

"Wheres Argo?" He asked and Xena looked over to the rolling hills.

"I left her in Amphipolis with my mother, we need to go there, but first..." Xena trailed off in thought as she itched her scalp and then fixed her hair before turning back to Joxer.

"We could really use your help on this one." She said and Gabrielle, who leaned against her staff, rolled her eyes. Joxer's face lit up.

"Really? I mean—Of course, you need my help, ahahahahaha!" He at first looked surprised, but then put his hands on his hips and made himself out to look bold. Xena smirked.

"Yeah we do, so come on hero." She said as she turned and began walking. Gabrielle stood up straight and rolled her shoulders back before she walked forward, using her staff as a walking stick. Joxer fell in line with her.

"So, what have you guys been up to?" Joxer asked.

"Well, you know, the usual," Gabrielle responded, still walking.

"Yeah? I heard that you and Xena kicked Naxrimmus right in the butt!" Joxer started talking about what he'd heard about their fight with yet another evil warlord.

"Well, I wouldn't say we, more like Xena," Gabrielle admitted.

"But I was in charge of the distraction," Gabrielle added. Joxer nodded his head.

"Yup, all the men think I'm sexy when I dance..." Gabrielle trailed off and she brought a hand through her hair.

"Wait, Gabby, did Aphrodite curse you again?" Joxer asked, hearing the superiority in her voice. She glared at him before her expression softened.

"No, I just got these nice new clothes." She said as she opened her pack and pulled out a small, revealing top. When she wore it, she felt like a seductive gypsy.

"Xena said that I looked sexy," Gabrielle said.

"Well, of course she would say that!" Joxer replied. Gabrielle frowned.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Gabrielle took him the wrong way and shoved the cloth back in her pack before she glared at him.

"Nothing, just that..." Joxer began.

"Okay you two, quiet down now." Xena came to a halt just before they reached the treeline and held out a hand before she clenched it into a fist. Joxer and Gabrielle looked at each other before looking back to Xena. Gabrielle inched forward until she was closer to the Warrior Princess.

"What is it?" She whispered her question. She watched as Xena closed her eyes and swayed her head slightly as she was listening intently.

"We have company." She stated as she opened her eyes with a frown.

"Company, well, let's get a fire going, we can welcome them!" Joxer started to say as he now stepped forward too. Xena narrowed her eyes and a 'Can you believe him?' smile widened on Gabrielle's face. The bard turned to him.

"I don't think she means that kind of company!" Gabrielle whispered.

"Now be quiet!" She added in her hushed tone. Joxer looked a little hurt, but then they heard the sound of voices getting louder and louder. Joxer looked all around but saw nothing. Even Gabrielle started to look, but she couldn't find where the voices were coming from.

"Xena, where are they?" She asked. Xena squinted before she closed her eyes again.

"Xena?" Gabrielle questioned again when she wouldn't answer her.

Xena grabbed her chakram from her hip as she suddenly opened her eyes.

"Aaagnnnn!" She threw her weapon before anyone could say more.

It shot through the sky and went past the tree line before Gabrielle and Joxer assumed it landed.

"Woah, Woah, Woah… Xena? You out there?" Gabrielle shook her head with a smirk as she realized that she recognized that voice. Xena turned her head to Gabrielle.

"Come on, we gotta get him out of this mess." Xena rolled her eyes as she said it before she stalked to the treeline. Gabrielle shook her head with a knowing smile.

"Come on Joxer." She said as she followed the Warrior Princess.

When they made it to where Xena was, they squatted in the brush with her and watched the scene that transpired.

"We won't fall for your tricks again!" A warlord was saying to a man that had his wrists bound behind him. Xena's chakram was stuck in a tree just in front of the bound man's face.

"No, I mean, this is her chakram! Unless..." Autolycus took another look around.

"It's Callisto!" He exclaimed before shaking his head.

"No wait, she's been dead for a while now, let me see." He said as he brought a hand up to his chin to think. The warlord stared at him with exasperation.

"What do you think your doing!? Come here!" He said as he grabbed Autolycus and pressed the King of Thieves' hands back together.

"Give me more rope!" He said to one of his few men that were with them. One of the warriors grabbed his satchel and pulled out some more rope before handing it to his leader. The warlord began to wrap it around Autolycus' wrists.

"Now, you're gonna help us whether you like it or not and no ones saving you! Not Xena, not Hercules, no one!" The warlord began to yell in his face. Autolycus closed his mouth and eyes and found himself annoyed as the warlord got spittle on his face.

"Well now, what if I decide that I don't want to help you?" Autolycus questioned when he reopened his eyes. The warlord glared.

"I've had just about enough of you!" He stated before he looked to his men. He smirked before he grabbed Autolycus by the shoulders and kneed him right in the gut, hard.

"Rough him up a little." The warlord said as he let go and backed away a little, making room for his men. The band of warriors chuckled as they came forward, ready to punch Autolycus until he was down so that they could kick him.

"Hey, can't we talk about this?" Autolycus began.

"Now!" The leader commanded and with that, punches were thrown at Autolycus' face. He dodged the first few, but there were too many. He started getting welted on although he still tried to fight them off with bound hands. He hadn't had enough time to get out of it again yet.

"Ayeyeyeyeyeyeye! Shea!" Xena finally introduced herself to the warriors with a multi-flip through the air as she let out her battle-cry. She landed firmly on her feet before she drew her sword and holding it with both hands, she pointed it at the men.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you to play nice?" She asked as she glared at the men. The warlord turned to face her.

"Get her!" He yelled. They all began to rush at Xena, leaving Autolycus bruised and laying on the ground. They all drew their blades as they reached her and began to swipe and slash at her.

"Ahh! Yahhhhh… Ahh!" Xena parried with her own blade with one man as she leaned forward and threw a kick at the guy from behind her.

Gabrielle rushed out of the bushes with her staff in hand. As Xena grabbed another guy by the scruff of his shirt from under his armor, she dragged him around with her as she still parried with another. Gabrielle reached the fight and just as two other men were about to charge at Xena, she swiped her staff under one guy's feet, making him fall over. The other turned and held up his sword, so she whacked his same hand with the blunt end of her staff. He made a face as he loudly breathed out in pain and shook his hand.

The other guy was getting up, so she banged him in the head before in the same swing, she hit the other guy upside the head as well. Their eyes rolled into the back of their heads as they passed out. Now Joxer reached the fight. He held out his sword and jumped, facing forward to one side and then the other.

"Who wants some of this!?" He questioned loudly, but no one bothered to even turn to him.

"Gabrielle, here! Hold this!" Xena called as she tossed her sword in the air. Gabrielle's eyes widened when she thought she wouldn't catch it, but she held up her hand anyways and was surprised when she caught it by the grip of the hild. Two of the four men that Xena fought turned towards Gabrielle and began to charge.

"Oh no you don't," Xena said as she dropped to her hands and bucked her legs up behind her, sending the other two men she was fighting flying. She stood back up, straightening her back as she did so before she went forward onto her hands again. This time she used her momentum to do a front flip and then another until she caught up with the two men. She did another flip, jumping up high into the air this time. She caught one guy by the shoulders and as she came down for a landing, she pulled him over her, upside down, into the air. She slammed his body against the other man going after Gabrielle, making them lay on the ground murmuring and whining out from the pain that they were in. Xena dusted off her hands before she held her hand out to Gabrielle for her sword.

"Thanks." She said as she took her blade back and resheathed it. As she was going to the tree to grab her chakram, one angry warlord pointed at her.

"You!" He was so angry he was shaking.

"I'll get you for this!" He ran at her when her back was turned, but it didn't matter. Just as he reached her, Xena jumped high into the air and spun around, landing a kick straight to his face. He fell to the ground, knocked out now too.

"Xena! What a surprise!" Autolycus began once she had her chakram and she was going towards him.

"Yeah, yeah, now give me your hands." She muttered. He held out his wrists and with one quick swipe, she removed his bindings.

"You know, I could have gotten out of that myself." He began to say when Gabrielle scoffed.

"Sure! Of course, Xena and I didn't just save you from getting torn into pieces!" Gabrielle didn't like how he reacted. He could at very least be a little thankful.

"All a part of the plan my dear, but now, I don't think they'll let me live if I stay," Autolycus said as he fingered his mustache slowly. Xena rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, come on, we need you too." She said as she pulled him along with her.

"Hey! Just wait a minute! Aren't you going to tell me the plan?" He began. Gabrielle gestured for the disappointed Joxer to follow as she spoke up.

"It's on a need to know basis." The bard remarked. Autolycus turned his head to her.

"Do you know what the plan is?" He asked. Gabrielle shook her head.

"But don't worry, Xena knows what she's doing," Gabrielle said and Autolycus shook his head with a smirk.

"Well, you don't have to tell that to me twice. Well, at least tell me where we're going, Xena and I don't suppose theres a reward for this either, is there?" Autolycus turned back to the dark-haired beauty. Xena frowned as she narrowed her eyes at the distance.

"We're going to the temple of Ares in Sparta." She stated. Everyone except Xena looked at each other and Joxer even gasped.

"We're going up against Ares?" Gabrielle finally asked. Xena shook her head.

"No, we're gonna need his help too," Xena said before she walked on, leaving the other three to stand there in shock for a moment. Autolycus was the first to snap out of it. He rushed to catch up with Xena.

"Hey, but what about a reward? Don't tell me this is another one of those 'doing it for the greater good' things!" Autolycus began to ramble on. He should have known better though, because that's how these things always went.

_**A/N:**_ So, this is my first Xena fic, I tried to make them as in character as I could so if you'd like to give me feedback on that or anything really, I would appreciate it. Thank you so much for reading. I have never written for Xena before because it is my all-time favorite show and I couldn't stand to butcher the characters until I felt I could write them properly. Also, if you can't understand the fight scenes, please let me know so I can try to fix it. I have the hardest time with fight scenes and also thought that maybe writing a Xena fic would help me on that front because she fights all the time. Well, again, thanks for reading!


End file.
